Mop bucket

ABSTRACT

A mop bucket has a bucket body, a pintle, two holding units and a basket. The bucket body has a ledge and a mounting sleeve. The ledge is formed in a sidewall of the bucket body. The mounting sleeve is formed through the ledge. The pintle is mounted rotatably through the mounting sleeve. The holding units are mounted respectively in the end openings of the mounting sleeve and are mounted tightly around the pintle. The basket is attached securely to the pintle. With the ledge formed in the sidewall, the manufacturer easily assembles the structures without overturning the bucket body. By the holding units mounted separately, the pintle is stabilized while rotating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mop bucket, especially to a mopbucket for retaining water from mop.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

Mops are widely used for cleaning. Generally, mops usually used with mopbuckets to collect redundant water from mops. Traditionally, users needto twist the mops to squeeze out the water, but twisting the mops needsto directly contact the brushes of the mops. Directly contacting thebrushes of the mops dirties the users' hands. Therefore, a self-rotatingmop is invented with a mop bucket.

With reference to FIG. 5, a conventional mop bucket has a bucket body(91), a seat (92) and a basket (93). The seat (92) is formed in a bottominside wall of the bucket body (91) and has a bottom opening and apintle (921). The pintle (921) protrudes from a top of the seat (92).The basket (93) is mounted rotatably on the pintle (921). However,securing the pintle (921) needs to mount relating structures from thebottom of the bucket body (91) since the seat (92) only has a bottomopening. Assembling structures from the bottom of the bucket body (91)is inconvenient for manufacturing. Furthermore, the pintle (921) is heldonly by a single bearing (922). When the basket (93) is rotated in highspeed, the pintle (921) easily shakes.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a mopbucket to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a mop bucketthat is easily assembled. The mop bucket has a bucket body, a pintle,two holding units and a basket. The bucket body has a ledge and amounting sleeve. The ledge is formed in a sidewall of the bucket body.The mounting sleeve is formed through the ledge. The pintle is mountedrotatably through the mounting sleeve. The holding units are mountedrespectively in the end openings of the mounting sleeve and are mountedtightly around the pintle. The basket is attached securely to thepintle. With the ledge formed in the sidewall, the manufacturer easilyassembles the structures without overturning the bucket body. By theholding units, the pintle is stabilized while rotating.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mop bucket in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the mop bucket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of the mop bucket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is an exploded perspective view of a pintle and a C-clip of themop bucket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view in partial section of the mop bucket in FIG. 1 and

FIG. 5 is a side view in partial section of a conventional mop bucket inaccordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3A, a mop bucket in accordance with thepresent invention comprises a bucket body (10), a handle (20), a pintle(30), two holding units (40) and a basket (50).

The bucket body (10) is hollow and has a top opening (11), a closedbottom (12), a sidewall (13), a ledge (14), mounting sleeve (15) andmultiple lower ribs (16). The sidewall (13) is formed around andprotrudes from the closed bottom (12) to define an inner cavity. Theledge (14) is formed in the sidewall (13) and may be also formed in theclosed bottom (12). The mounting sleeve (15) is formed through the ledge(14), protrudes upward into the inner cavity and has two end openings.The lower ribs (16) are formed separately on the ledge (14) and protrudetransversely from the mounting sleeve (15) to reinforce the mountingsleeve (15).

The handle (20) is attached to the bucket body (10) and may be attachedpivotally to the sidewall (13) of the bucket body (10).

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the pintle (30) is mounted rotatablythrough the mounting sleeve (15) and has an annular groove (31) formedin a sidewall near a bottom end thereof. A C-clip (32) engages theannular groove (31) to keep the pintle (30) from leaving the mountingsleeve (15).

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 4, the holding units (40) are mountedrespectively in the end openings of the mounting sleeve (15) and aremounted tightly around the pintle (30). The holding units (40) may beball bearings. A waterproof gasket (41) is mounted around one of theholding units (40).

The basket (50) is attached securely to the pintle (30) and has a basketbody (51), a connecting sleeve (52) and multiple upper ribs (53). Theconnecting sleeve (52) is formed on a bottom of the basket body (51), ismounted securely around the pintle (30) and protrudes into the top endof the mounting sleeve (15). The upper ribs (53) are formed separatelyon the bottom of the basket body (51) and protrude transversely from theconnecting sleeve (52) to reinforce the connecting sleeve (52).

The mop bucket as described has following advantages. With the ledge(14) is formed in the sidewall (13) of the bucket body (10), themanufacturer assembles the pintle (30), the holding units (40) and theC-clip (32) easily without overturning the bucket body (10).Furthermore, the two holding units (40) separately holding the pintle(30) stabilizes the pintle (30) while rotating. Therefore, the pintle(30) do not shake when rotating. Moreover, Because the ribs (16, 53)reinforce the mounting sleeve (15) and the connecting sleeve (52), themounting sleeve (15) and the connecting sleeve (52) are strong enough tobear the rotation of the pintle (30).

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A mop bucket comprising: a bucket body having a top opening; a closedbottom; a sidewall formed around and protrudes from the closed bottom todefine an inner cavity; a ledge formed in the sidewall; and mountingsleeve formed through the ledge, protruding upward into the inner cavityand having two end openings; a pintle mounted rotatably through themounting sleeve; two holding units mounted respectively in the endopenings of the mounting sleeve and mounted tightly around the pintle;and a basket attached securely to the pintle.
 2. The mop bucket asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the ledge of the bucket body is also formedin the closed bottom thereof.
 3. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 1,wherein the bucket body has multiple lower ribs formed separately on theledge and protruding transversely from the mounting sleeve.
 4. The mopbucket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bucket body has multiple lowerribs formed separately on the ledge and protruding transversely from themounting sleeve.
 5. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein theholding units are ball bearings.
 6. The mop bucket as claimed in claim2, wherein the holding units are ball bearings.
 7. The mop bucket asclaimed in claim 4, wherein the holding units are ball bearings.
 8. Themop bucket as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a C-clip, whereinthe pintle has an annular groove formed in a sidewall near a bottom endthereof; and the C-clip engages the annular groove of the pintle.
 9. Themop bucket as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a C-clip, whereinthe pintle has an annular groove formed in a sidewall near a bottom endthereof; and the C-clip engages the annular groove of the pintle. 10.The mop bucket as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a C-clip,wherein the pintle has an annular groove formed in a sidewall near abottom end thereof; and the C-clip engages the annular groove of thepintle.
 11. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the basket hasa basket body; and a connecting sleeve formed on a bottom of the basketbody, mounted securely around the pintle and protruding into the top endof the mounting sleeve.
 12. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 2,wherein the basket has a basket body; and a connecting sleeve formed ona bottom of the basket body, mounted securely around the pintle andprotruding into the top end of the mounting sleeve.
 13. The mop bucketas claimed in claim 10, wherein the basket has a basket body; and aconnecting sleeve formed on a bottom of the basket body, mountedsecurely around the pintle and protruding into the top end of themounting sleeve.
 14. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 11, wherein thebasket has multiple upper ribs formed separately on the bottom of thebasket body and protruding transversely from the connecting sleeve. 15.The mop bucket as claimed in claim 12, wherein the basket has multipleupper ribs formed separately on the bottom of the basket body andprotruding transversely from the connecting sleeve.
 16. The mop bucketas claimed in claim 13, wherein the basket has multiple upper ribsformed separately on the bottom of the basket body and protrudingtransversely from the connecting sleeve.
 17. The mop bucket as claimedin claim 1 further comprising a handle attached to the bucket body. 18.The mop bucket as claimed in claim 16 further comprising a handleattached to the bucket body.
 19. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 17,wherein the handle is attached pivotally to the sidewall of the bucketbody.
 20. The mop bucket as claimed in claim 18, wherein the handle isattached pivotally to the sidewall of the bucket body.